The Red String
by h.kismet
Summary: Red...the color of my love, the color of the string that binds our fate.


**PROLOGUE**

 **(...):** Time has passed yet my feelings have not. Your image has been imprinted into my mind...that every time I close my eyes, red is all I see. I only wish this dream continues on til the last of my breath.

 **(...):** Wrinkled, old skin. Body is too weak to even stand. My eyes have been betraying me. When I look out this window, the forest..I can no longer see. Everything seems more beautiful in my sleep. 

* * *

**(Old Red):** I had a dream. A dream where I was lost inside the forest. The same forest where I had lost my dear grandmother. Now, being as old as she was back then, I have come to wander around...looking for a familiar face. A cold breeze brushed against me. As I turned, I saw its eyes flashing through the dark. What once was fierce, suddenly became gentle. Walking forward, towards my direction, but...something was wrong. Drip...drip...drip. I hear dripping. It's infront of me, covered in red...Darker that what I once wore. As if speaking, I felt my tears escaping my eyes. As it's body fell to the ground, I jolted up with screams that awoke my family. They kept asking what's wrong but I kept begging them to take me back. They would not hear me out. They thought I was crazy. I was not. They just don't know, so they did not understand.

 **(Granddaughter):** My grandmother is weak, she cannot even walk. But I really feel that she needed to go. As if somebody had hypnotized me, I begged my parent's to let me take her there. To the place where she was once given another chance to live. Surprised at my incessant begging, and after thinking it through, they finally agreed. My grandmother has become fragile that every little thing brings her to tears. We decided to prepare and leave as soon as the earliest sunrise.

 **(Old Red):** I cannot wait, yet I cannot go. My legs have betrayed since long ago. How will I stand? Run? My age has gotten the best of me. If only I can, then they can never stop me from going again. I am in guilt, I am ashamed. Why did I have to move far away in the first place? I ask, yet I know. This kind of love...will never be answered. Never going to come true.

 **(Granddaughter)** : The journey proves to be quite long, especially when there is nothing but silence. To break the ice, I asked her why she needed to go so badly? She did not look nor answer...but she started telling me a story. A story about a girl and a wolf.

" _Dear one, I once knew this little girl. Her mother had asked her to run an errand for her. Thinking that this is a chance to make them see how big she has gotten, she agreed. Excited, she put on a red hood, got the baskets of apple from their dining table, kissed her mother goodbye, and left to go to the forest to visit her grandmother. She never realized how big, and dark...and dangerous the forest looks. Yet not wanting to give up, she took a step inside. Eerie, cold and scared, she felt a gaze on her. At first she didn't want to look back. But when she did, she saw it. Ferocious eyes, sharp claws, fangs...she fled at the sight of the wild animal that an apple flew off the basket. She ran, and ran...and ran, yet she felt it following closely behind. After losing her way, and losing her strength...a rustle from behind the bush was heard. Out of fear, she picked up a stone and hoped that it will be enough to defend herself from any harm. Out of nowhere, a more dangerous wild animal appeared. Little red riding hood threw her weapon and hit the beast's eye, yet instead of leaving...the beast was enraged. As it pounced to feast on the girl, the wolf from before had arrived just in the nick of time. Red riding hood closed her eyes and prayed hard that she be safe from all harm, as well as her grandmother. As the silence stretched on, the girl peeked and saw three things - ruined trees, a lifeless body, and a wolf in front of her very eyes. At first she was lost. Why? Because she thought she was as good as dead when she saw that wolf from the time that she saw it when she entered the forest. The wolf reached out and gave red riding hood the apple that she dropped when she first ran away. She cried and embraced her wounded savior. Thankful, she tended to it, and gave it an apple, and left the wolf to go to her grandmother. As she reached the house at the end of the forest, she felt something was off. She knocked and knocked, and called out but no response was heard. Going around and passing by a window, she saw something she wished she had not. Traces of blood, unorganized furniture, torn clothes...she saw that a chaotic scene had happened. Red riding hood broke the window and went inside. She kept hoping that her grandmother was still alive, but she was ultimately mistaken. Crying to herself, she heard a thud. The wolf had followed her in. Her relief was suddenly replaced by fear. Of course, despite it saving her, it is still a beast. A carnivorous animal. She moved away yet the wolf stood in place. After a few moments, the girl realizes her mistake and ran to the wolf and embraced it...overwhelmed in a gush of different emotions. The wolf stayed for a while but then pushed the girl away and ran out. Red riding hood followed it out of fear. She didn't want to be left alone in the dead of the night, inside the forest full of danger. Every time she fell down, she was afraid that the wolf had left her completely...but it waited. Although she was waiting for it to come and help, she knew that the wolf was holding itself back to keep her safe...from itself. The wolf led the girl out of the forest, and was never seen again."_

 **(Granddaughter):** By the tone of her voice, I knew how she ached. I knew that she was the girl she was just telling me about through a story. She was silent so I asked her again what had happened to the girl after.

 _"She was so thankful that she had decided to leave apples everyday at the place where the wolf had led her to. Every day, for 2 years. In exchange for the apple, the wolf left flowers. Then, I...she knew that the wolf was always watching her somewhere. For those two years, I...she felt so much love from something she never expected. Love had blossomed in her heart as well and yet she knew...her love will never come true."_

 **(Old Red)** : Never had I once told anyone this story. Old age has made me vulnerable. A tear has once again escaped. Wiping it away quickly, I looked at my granddaughter and saw her looking at me intently...eyes filled with grief and an emotion just as deep as mine.


End file.
